Doctor Strange takes a huge step forward, while Iron Man 3 might start filming early. A photo reveals the back of a Batman villain's head. Terminator 5 will return to the franchise's R-rated roots. Plus the last word on Chuck!

Spoilers from here on out!

Top image from Prometheus.

Advertisement

The Dark Knight Rises

I'm not totally sure where this came from, but here's what is purportedly a photo of the back of Tom Hardy's head. More specifically, it's the back of Bane's head, providing a look at the huge scarring that presumably forces the character to wear the painkiller-dispensing mask. [The HD Room]

The Avengers

Iron Man 3

Production will reportedly begin on Shane Black and Robert Downey, Jr.'s Iron Man sequel earlier than expected, with the start of filming being pushed up to May 4. Assuming this is actually happening, the move may be happening to provide the sequel with some extra publicity, as The Avengers comes out May 4 and so could provide all other Marvel projects with a little boost. [Comic Book]

Doctor Strange

Conan the Barbarian and Sahara screenwriters Thomas Donnelly and Joshua Oppenheimer have reportedly finished the script for the Doctor Strange movie, and Marvel Studios is now looking to find a director. Once all that is in place, casting will reportedly begin for the main character, with production planned to begin later this year. [Fanshare]

The Amazing Spider-Man

This feels deeply stupid, even by the standards of reporting on random toy tie-ins, but here are some pool toys, one of which seems to be a full-body figure of the Lizard, which we haven't really seen before. So then, that's a thing, I guess. [Bleeding Cool]

Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance

Prometheus

Here's a new promo image. In the accompanying article, writer Damon Lindelof explains that, while Charlize Theron's character is cut from the same cloth as Paul Reiser's amoral company man in Aliens, they're not quite the same:

"She's not the fast-talking, snake-oil face of the company. As we were developing the script, she had some really cool ideas that made it not the suit you're used to."

Chronicle

Here's another TV spot for the found footage movie about teenagers who develop superpowers.

Untitled Space Adventure Movie

Chronicle screenwriter Max Landis has reportedly sold a project to Disney. It's an adventure film set in space starring a brother and sister. [Variety]

Journey 2: The Mysterious Island

Here's a new trailer, featuring an introduction from stars Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson and Josh Hutcherson.

Wrath of the Titans

Here are two TV spots for the upcoming Clash of the Titans sequel. [Coming Soon]

Snow White and the Huntsman

Universal has released a new promo image of Kristen Stewart in this fearlessly gritty take on the Snow White story. [Universal Pictures]

Mirror Mirror

Here's a new sneak peek at Tarsem Singh's even more fearlessly non-gritty take on the Snow White story.

Relativity Media has moved the film's release date from March 16 to 30, the same weekend as Wrath of the Titans. [Coming Soon]

Doctor Who

Here's a pair of interviews with Matt Smith after he won the award for Drama Performance Male at the National Television Awards. One of them features Smith suggesting that he will be doing another season of Doctor Who before moving onto Hollywood, though he later — again — walked that back by saying he has no immediate plans to leave the show. Yeah...we're going to go through all this a lot, aren't we?

Drive director Nicolas Winding Refn says he offered to direct a Doctor Who episode last year but was turned down:

I would have loved to direct Doctor Who but they didn't want me — they turned me down last year. Maybe if they revive Blake's 7 I could do that. I love it. It's great. That could be fun to update.

I say this as a massive, massive fan of Drive, but yeah... I can totally see why his directing style might not have been seen as the ideal match for Doctor Who. Of course, that just makes me want to see him direct an episode all the more... [Shortlist]

Fringe

Asked about the Zeppelin Man, Olivia's future killer who was introduced in last year's "Lysergic Acid Diethylamide", executive producer Joel Wyman promised answers are on the way:

"We ourselves get frustrated with other shows that only ask questions and leave things up in the air and don't really answer them, so we really take pride in saying, ‘Look our drama is strong enough that we can actually answer the questions.' Let's just say that we're going to try and get you satisfying conclusions for all those things that are up in the air. You'll learn a lot more about the Observers this year. And yes, you probably will understand a lot about that guy in the zeppelin."

The Walking Dead

"If there's a zombie attack in every other scene the show would play as a video game and people would not really respond to it. I think in our midseason finale, we were building to that climax to where Sophia comes out of the barn, remember that was a twist on already a big scene. That was by design and the entire season has been designed to have huge payoffs, smaller character moments and I think that there's a lot of things in the show that satisfies many people in the audience. At the end of the run all fans will be happy with this show. It's just packed, particularly in the second half of the season."

True Blood

Here are some casting calls for the fourth episode of season five, "We'll Meet Again":

[TODD JEFFRIES] Seen in flashback to Iraq in 2003, this U.S. Marine joins his squad (which includes Patrick and Terry) on a trip to a small village, where their plans to party and wreak a little havoc go tragically awry. 5 lines, 1 scene (26).
[JEMARCUS KESSLER] Seen in flashback to Iraq in 2003, this Marine Lance Corporal is traveling into a town with his squad (which includes Patrick and Terry) and is preparing for a night of partying and mischief-which goes tragically awry. 7 lines, 1 scene (26).
[IRAQI BOY] YOUNG LOOKING ARAB 18 YEAR OLD. Seen in a flashback to 2003, this Iraqi boy whose village is being blown up by American soldiers speaks out in Arabic to the soldiers. 2 lines in Arabic, 1 scene (28) MUST SPEAK ARABIC OR BE FAMILIAR WITH IT.

Chuck

So essentially, one of the cool things, or how the arc of the season goes or specifically these last episodes, the last couple of episodes is that Sarah, in an attempt to save my life, she has to download the faulty intersect, and before we are able to get it out of her head and the damage is done, the damage is done. She's kidnapped by Quinn and then kind of reprogrammed by him...

Things happen where we come to the finale in such a way that it's almost a reset of sorts, where the ‘will they, won't they' dynamic comes back into play, and particularly in the second half of the finale, Episode 13. There's a ton of homage to the pilot, to the origins of these characters and their journey together and everyone's in it, and that's awesome. It's been really emotional. Last week, particularly. Tomorrow is going to be nothing but waterworks, I'm sure. But last week we shot pretty much all of the goodbye scenes, the characters saying goodbye to one another and when art is imitating life simultaneously in that moment and I'm looking at my friends of five years, my family of five years, and in a scene I'm having to look at them and say goodbye and I'm really saying goodbye.

There's some more looking back at the series as a whole at the link. [ChuckTV]

Lester actor Vik Sahay confirms that there will be a Jeffster performance in the finale. There's a lot more general discussion of Lester's character at the link. [BuddyTV]

For those so inclined, here's a fifty-minute interview with show creators and executive producers Chris Fedak and Josh Schwartz. It features a couple minor spoilers for the finale, but mostly it's a behind-the-scenes retrospective of the series. [ChuckTV]

Here's a retrospective interview with the whole cast.

And here's one last promo for the series finale.

Once Upon a Time

Here are six sneak peeks for this Sunday's episode, "Fruit of the Poisonous Tree."

Sebastian Stan, who played Bucky Barnes in Captain America, will reportedly guest star in an episode in March or April in an unspecified role. [TV Guide]

Episodes 15 and 16 are reportedly called "Red-Handed" and "Heart of Darkness", respectively. [SpoilerTV]

Grimm

Here's a promo for the next episode, "Organ Grinder", which airs February 3.

Supernatural

Here's a few more promo photos for next Friday's episode, "The Slice Girls." [multipleverses.com]

Here's the official description for episode fifteen, "Repo Man", which airs February 17:

DOUBLE TROUBLE - Four years ago, Sam (Jared Padalecki) and Dean (Jensen Ackles) helped a woman named Nora (guest star Nicole Oliver) exorcise a demon that was systematically killing women in a small town. They managed to save the postal worker, Jeffrey (guest star Russell Sams), while vanquishing the demon but now it seems the black-eyed monster has reared his ugly head and returned for a second helping. The brothers visit Jeffrey, who has been locked in a psych ward since the incident, to see if he can remember any of the demon's plans while he was possessed.

Being Human (UK)

Here's the description for episode two of series four:

Hal, Leo and Pearl - another werewolf, vampire and ghost - turn up at the house. Leo is dying and this supernatural triumvirate believe the secret to saving the old werewolf's life resides in Honolulu Heights. While Annie is confident that she can channel the power to help him, Tom isn't so sure. Nor is he best pleased at having the disdainful and arrogant vampire Hal in his home either. But﻿ to fulfill Leo's dying wish, the two are forced on a mission together. A fracas with a pawn shop owner bonds them temporarily, but later when Tom discovers Hal standing over baby Eve's crib, Hal's ultimate motives are called into question.

The Vampire Diaries

Here's the description for episode fifteen, "All My Children", which airs February 16:

A FLIP OF THE COIN - After starting her day with a startling discovery of Damon's (Ian Somerhalder) latest indiscretion, Elena (Nina Dobrev) is frustrated to find that none of her friends agree with her on how they should react to the Original family's internal power struggle. Once again caught up in the destiny of the Bennett witches, Bonnie (Kat Graham) and Abby (guest star Persia White) find themselves playing a part in a ritual to appease the spirits of nature. When Elijah (guest star Daniel Gillies) gives Damon and Stefan (Paul Wesley) a dangerous ultimatum that puts Elena in danger, they turn to Alaric (Matt Davis) and Meredith (guest star Torrey Devitto) for help with a plan that leads them to a terrible choice.

The Secret Circle

Here are some promo photos for episode 14, "Valentine", which will air on February 9. [TV Line]

Here's the official description for episode 15, "Return", which airs February 16:

CASSIE'S PAST COMES BACK TO HAUNT HER - Cassie (Britt Robertson) is stunned when a notoriously evil figure from her past shows up on her doorstep (guest star Joe Lando, "Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman"). However, her surprise quickly turns to suspicion when he asks her to return the medallion she found in the wreckage of the fire that killed their parents. Cassie storms off but is captured by Eben and his band of witch hunters. Jake (Chris Zylka) offers to trade himself for Cassie's freedom and when Adam (Thomas Dekker) realizes they're in trouble he calls the Circle. Meanwhile, Faye (Phoebe Tonkin) and Diana (Shelley Hennig) are concerned when Melissa starts spending more time with Callum (guest star Michael Graziadei).

I'm sworn to secrecy about a lot... but I can say that Ethan started out the series as the town drunk who wasn't a very good father, and now we're finding out that Ethan's been drinking to forget some painful truths that could spell danger for Cassie Blake, his own son Adam, and their own circle of witches.

Charles Meade was the villain in the pilot, yet Dawn Chamberlain always seems to be the power-hungry one. Now it seems whoever has got the chrystal turns into a villain, even Ethan?
Power is a very seductive thing, and I'm not sure anyone is safe from its grasp in Chance Harbour. The great thing about the show is that whats really going on might be very different from what we think is going on.